Once Again, Trump Proves That Speakers Need Research

Donald Trump, White House photo

Yes (sigh), once again, Donald Trump needed research. Trump’s town hall yesterday at the Lincoln Memorial, although bizarre, was no more bizarre than his usual public presentations. He made simple factual errors that could have been easily prevented. All he needed was a few minutes of research. 

Of his many odd statements, what struck me most was his ignorant comment about the 1918 flu epidemic:

"So in 1917, we had a horrible, that case was the flu, you remember the Spanish flu? So much has been written about it, now of course it’s the hottest.” 

He continued:

“Everybody that writes a book about the Spanish flu of 1917, it killed between I guess 50 to a hundred million people. It probably ended the first world war because the soldiers were all getting sick. It was the worst the world has ever seen that we know of.”

Speakers need research, and Trump didn’t have it.

First, the so-called Spanish flu broke out in the spring of 1918, not 1917. Somehow, Trump seems to have in his head that it started in 1917 and he has been unable to get that straight. The History Channel website, for instance, explains that: “The first wave of the 1918 pandemic occurred in the spring and was generally mild.” For a more prestigious source, we can turn to an article in the scientific journal Revista Biomedica, where scientists Jeffery K. Taubenberger and David M. Morens explain that “The ‘Spanish’ influenza pandemic of 1918–1919, which caused ≈50 million deaths worldwide, remains an ominous warning to public health.”

Second, although the influenza epidemic spread across the world and infected many service personnel, it did not end World War I. A simple glance at credible sources (like the History Channel) would establish that the 1918 (not 1917) influenza pandemic swept through the United States Army and Navy, and yet the United States was on the winning side. An article in the scientific journal Virology gives similar information in more depth.

I assume (it’s not entirely certain, given his comments) that Trump understood that the United States did, in fact, fight on the winning side? If not, research makes that information available as well. For example, an article on the Imperial War Museum website explains the 1918 armistice’s terms. The United States Library of Congress offers a PDF file of the armistice’s actual text.

Speakers Need Research: Donald Trump Suggested Injecting Disinfectants to Cure the Coronavirus

The sources that I cited are easy to find. I avoided sources like Wikipedia or other encyclopedias and instead looked for information published by responsible people and organizations. Primary sources, such as the actual text of the armistice, are especially credible. I was careful not to rely just on one source for potentially controversial information. It didn’t take me long to get the basic facts.  The History Channel website shows up prominently on a Google or Bing search, whereas Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/) offers quality academic sources, often with full-text links, at the click of a button.

Mike Lee Tries to Make Fun of the Green New Deal but Only Makes Fun of Himself (P.S. Speakers Need Research)

If he decides to stop making silly mistakes, Mr. Trump can make either of two choices: (1) he can get on his famous cell phone and look up simple facts, or (2) he could ask his advisors for some quick research before (not after) he opens his mouth. Neither method would take any more time than sending out four or five rage tweets

Millions of people believe the President of the United States just because he is the President. That means that the President of the United States really should make basic efforts to get his facts right. At the same time, the more mistakes the President makes, the less likely it is that people will believe him in the future. Even slavish acolytes might have limits. Trump’s political prospects could improve if he didn’t make so many silly mistakes and commit so many unforced research errors.

P.S.: Many of the things we learn in school become out of date 20 or 30 years later. That is why the most important thing you can get out of high school and college is to learn how to locate and evaluate quality, credible information for yourself. Learning and education are lifelong tasks.